It may be the depths of winter but a walk out in the Carmarthenshire countryside may reveal more wildlife than you think. Whilst our summer visitors are long gone winter visitors from the north have arrived. Our coastal waters, estuaries, rivers and wetlands now play host to waders and wildlfowl – wigeon, teal, lapwing, redshank, curlew, greylag geese and golden plover arrive in numbers. Visit the Carmarthenshire Bird Club website (www.carmarthenshirebirds.co.uk) for the latest sightings and where to see them.

Fieldfares and redwings arrive in their 1000s to feed on winter berries in our countryside and if it gets really cold look out for the beautiful waxwings, driven southwards by the wintery weather.

You don’t even have to leave your house to enjoy the variety of birds in the county – a strategically placed bird feeder could mean that the birds come to you and you can enjoy them from your home!

There is still some colour about – gorse may still be in flower, even in December and in look out for the bright orange fruits of the spindle and reds of haws and holly berries in our woods and hedges.

Some mosses, ferns and lichens come into their own now that the trees have lost their leaves and its worth adjusting your eyes and looking more closely at these amazing species – works of art on a micro level! The hart’s tongue fern keeps its long bright-green leaves all year, and some fungi may still be around, including the small but beautiful stag’s horn fungi. Close inspection of a branch or rock face will provide some evidence of the variety of lichens to be found.